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How to Make a Korean Sentence (S-V-P-L)

The word order in
Korean is hugely different from English and the more words we use, the more
complicated it gets. Basically, the only thing that remains in its position in
both languages is the subject of the sentence.

We have learned
some sentence patterns in English and one of them is “Subject + Verb +
Preposition + Location”. Now, let's take a look at how this pattern goes in
Korean.

The subject (주어)
refers to the topic of the sentence. The verb (동사)
is an action word. The preposition (전치사) are words such as “in, at, an on”.
Location (장소) refers to the place where an action takes place.

Seyeon-is drinking-water-in-the kitchen.

But what happens
when we re-arranged the words the Korean way?

Seyeon-in the kitchen-water-is drinking.

The sentence is
still understandable, but it's so messed up and sounds odd. In other words,
when we translate that sentence into Korean, the pattern becomes Subject +
Location + Preposition + Verb.

The sentence begins
with the subject and ends with the verb- which is a fixed pattern in Korean.
However, prepositions in Korean are particles attached to the noun (in this
case, location) so it comes right after the location. Let’s translate the above
sentence.

세연이가부엌에서물을마시고있어요.

Let's construct
some more sentence that follows this pattern.

I live in Vietnam.

나는베트남에서살아요.

The children are playing at the park.

애들이공원에서놀고있어요.

My mom works at the pharmacy.

우리엄마가약국에서일해요.

The man died in the hospital.

그남자가병원에서죽었어요.

She waited at the bus stop.

그녀가정류장에서기다렸어요.

You might notice
another particle common to above sentences- 에 and 에서.
They are actually the equivalent of "in, at on" in English.